The Board denied earlier effective dates for the award of service connection and remanded claims for increased ratings due to insufficient evidence regarding the impact of medication on the severity of the Veteran's conditions.
The deciding factor: The earliest effective date available is the date of receipt of the informal claim, August 29, 2013, as per VA regulations. The Board found that an opinion was needed to clarify the extent to which pain medications ameliorate the functional impairment of the Veteran's conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine strain and degenerative arthritis (claimed as neck pain), right ankle sprain (claimed as right ankle condition), right lower extremity radiculopathy (claimed as right leg numbness)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 23, 2025
- Citation
- A25046384
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 713 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A25046384.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
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- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD is granted as the evidence shows a current diagnosis of PTSD, an in-service stressor, and a medical link between the two.
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